Locust Horde
By 1 A.E., the Locust Horde was able to defeat the COG, but the humans used the Hammer of Dawn, destroying 90% of the surface and killing everything trapped on the surface within the blast zones. The Locust survived the Hammer, but were not able to accomplish a swift victory like they had hoped. Victory after Victory With the COG's almost apocalyptic effort in using the Hammer of Dawn to potentially destroy some of the Locust Horde's forces, the Horde returned to continue the war. Having caught humanity off-guard and having slaughtered a vast majority of the human population during the first five years of the war, enjoyed the advantage of sheer numbers. With many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the most battle-hardened Gears in the COG Army having been killed in the initial attack, the COG was forced to recruit from the infirm, the young, and the imprisoned to try to hold off the advancing Horde. As a result, not only did the Locust also benefit from an advantage in quantity of troops, but in the average quality of soldiers as well. As a result, the war went horribly for humanity, but went exceptionally well for the Locust, who seized Landown in 5 A.E. during the Winter of SorrowGears of War 2 Collectible: Jacinto Sentinel Newspaper, and the COG capital of Ephyra in 10 A.E. It was during the fall of Ephyra that the Locust supposedly killed the COG's most prominent scientist, Adam Fenix, the father of Marcus Fenix.Gears of War: The Slab The Trinity of Worms was the symbol and title of the Locust Horde's religion, revering the Riftworms as gods. The Trinity of Worms explained how the Queen made strong Drones, how the Drones protected Nexus and how Nexus covered the Queen. The Trinity of Worms also told the tale of how the Riftworms burrowed through Sera's surface and went underground, creating the massive underground caverns which would be known as Hollows. The Riftworms also left behind their wastes, which fertilized the soil of Sera, bringing life to the Hollows and the surface of Sera. Kantus Scrolls The Kantus Scrolls were ancient Kantus writings that were the code of the Kantus. The Scrolls contained verses and mantras that explained how to communicate with Riftworms and Rockworms. Some copies of the Kantus Scrolls were used with Human skin fitted in between rollers, with the religious text written on them with ink.Gears of War 2 Collectible: Kantus Scrolls Writing System The Locust had their own writing system, which was referred to as Locust Runes. The system consisted of symbols which represented individual letters and ideograms that represented full words. The writing system's alphabet contained 26 symbols for 26 letters. The numbering system contained 10 numbers that was represented by 10 symbols. There was also a computerized version of the Locust writing system, which could be seen on Locust computer terminals. These symbols are cleaner and more identifiable than the handwritten symbols. The most notable examples of the computerized Locust alphabet were found on the Locust computer terminalsPrisoner Screen (Male 409) Prisoner Screen (Female 620) and the Locust Invasion Map.Locust Invasion Map As for the relationship with Human languages and writing systems, it was unknown if the Locust pronounced their symbols in any way related to Human languages/writing systems. For what was known about the relationship between the Locust's language and writing system and the Humans, there were 21 confirmed ideograms that represented Human words. Calendar System The Locust had their own calendar system, which was based off of Imulsion flowing through the Hollows. Within the calendar system, there were 12 seasons, each with opposites.Locust Calendar *Queen-Imulsion *Fire-Water *Drone-Human *Leviathan-Kryll *Danger-Secure *Nemacyst-Seeder Standards and Symbols The Locust Horde had many objects to represent their society, culture and religion, as well as their people. Queen Myrrah had her own symbol, in which all members of her Guard always carried with them. The Savage Locust appear to have rejected this symbol.Gears of War 3 Collectible: Queen's Symbol The symbol of the Locust Horde's religion was the Trinity of Worms, which told the history of the Riftworms and the creation of the Hollow, as well as how the Lightmass Bomb killed most if not all of the Kryll, and awoke one of the Riftworms, which was then used to sink the three cities surrounding Jacinto City. The Trinity of Worms was represented by physical artifacts, a medium-sized object with a glowing triangle directly in the middle of the artifact, with the three curved prongs designed to represent the worms of the Hollow. The main verse of the Trinity of Worms was written on the artifact, with different parts of the verse spread out on the three prongs.Gears of War 2 Collectible: Trinity of Worms Artifact The Locust also produced jewelry, such as emblems that were referred to just as the "Locust Emblem." Damon S. Baird, in an intelligence report, theorized that the Locust either kept track of their fallen soldiers like the COG did, or they just had a bad taste in jewelry.Gears of War 2 Collectible: Locust Emblem The Locust also produced human finger necklaces.Gears of War 2 Collectible: Human Finger Necklace Architecture and Infrastructure The Locust Horde's infrastructure was largely composed of what appeared to be stone and brick. Some of the structures that were built included Reaver Pens, torture sections for captured Humans, aqueduct systems, dams, bridges and roads. Some of the most notable structures the Locust Horde built was the Palace, the capital building in Nexus and the Highway, which was the central highway of Nexus.Gears of War 2 Military Tactics and Strategies The military tactics and strategies of the Locust Horde originally involved just defending their cities against the Lambent after the Locust discovered them, with some of their forces strategically stationed in and around Nexus. The defense of Nexus was strategically planned, as the Locust Horde was determined to not lose their capital city. One copy of their defensive plans for Nexus showed the palace with Queen Myrrah at the center being protected by Drones who surround the palace. Imulsion was all around Nexus, and the Lambent forces coming from one side of Nexus.Locust Defensive Plans At an unknown time when the Locust hierarchy made the decision to invade the surface of Sera, their tactics and strategies now had to include offensive plans. When the Horde launched their invasion of the surface of Sera on what was to be known as Emergence Day, the Locust poured huge numbers of the forces onto the surface, coordinating their invasion to take place in every single major city on the surface of Sera. During Emergence Day, the Locust Horde's military forces succeeded in a number of ways in dominating the Humans and crushing their military forces. On Emergence Day the Locust managed to kill 1/4 of the total human population, which dealt a severe blow to the Humans.Gears of War: Destroyed Beauty They gathered all available civilian and military hardware from the cities they invaded; supplies and hardware were collected and auto parts were salvaged from wreckage. After the Lightmass Offensive in 14 A.E., during which the Humans launched a Lightmass Bomb into the Hollows, Queen Myrrah announced to her Horde: "Cut off the head of the snake, and the body dies. We will win this war. It's only a matter of time." A new strategy was in place; the Locust Horde would try to take down the leaders and command system of the remaining Humans. If they succeeded, the rest of the Humans would fall and the Locust Horde would win the war and Sera would be theirs.Gears of War: Act 5: Desperation Despite the Drone's tendency to blindly charge into battle, the Locust were far from mindless in battle, employing cunning and resourcefulness to win just as much as sheer brutality and mercilessness. The assumption that the locust were little more than mindless beasts greatly hindered the COG's initial efforts. While the individual Drone's intelligence was questionable, prominent Locust commanders such as Karn and General RAAM have displayed great cunning and strategy. Gears in the field have often attributed unexpected and surprising tactics from Locust to the presence of a smarter commander pushing them. Such as the use of smoke grenades and grappling hooks by RAAM's forces to assault Zeta-Six's position during the Ilima evacuation. The Locusts most infamous tactic was the use of Emergence Holes, or E-Holes. Deliver their forces directly into battle. E-Holes, in addition to quickly delivering forces, had a heavy psychological affect on enemies since they allowed the Locust to attack nearly anywhere at any time without warning. gun on their back, in addition to two Troika machineguns on their forearms, and have also been rumored to carry energy beam cannons that kill at a range. Their strength can be compared to a Corpser's. Wretch Small, jittery members of the Locust, Wretches are weak when on their own, but potentially deadly in large packs. They attack by climbing on or over surfaces and lunging at their target in a vicious frenzy. They make up for their lack of strength with speed and unpredictability, and are often used as a distraction or as cannon fodder by the Locust. Alone, they are easily beaten, but in groups, they can literally tear COG soldiers to shreds. They often make their presence known before becoming visible by letting out a horrid, extremely high-pitched scream that can make the Gears cover their ears in pain. They are very dangerous often causing Gears to forget to look up being overwhelmed by a subsequent attack if the Wretches themselves do not kill them. Wretches also have an annoying habit of jumping on you while handling bigger, badder, and uglier locust. Corpsers Corpsers were spider like creatures which appear to be somewhat arachnid.Gears of War 3 Corpsers have four eyes and lay eggs, and they wear multi-lensed helmets similar to those worn by Brumaks. Corpsers have eight thick rock-hard legs reinforced with metal plates that guard their vulnerable underbellies, which is the only vulnerable part of their body besides their mouth. The Locust Horde uses Corpsers to dig tunnels through the soil of Sera, allowing the Horde to move about undetected, even deep behind COG lines. Reavers Reavers were large, flying creatures about twenty times the size of a drone. They are saddled up and ridden by a Beast Rider as well as a passenger Drone or Theron Guard. Hydra The Hydra was the personal mount of High Priest Skorge. It was killed along with its rider outside of Jacinto city during the Siege of Jacinto. Seeder Seeders were large, bizarre, insect-like creatures that launch Nemacyst, flying jellyfish-like creatures that act as flying mines and anti-air interceptors into the air from their anus. When Seeders were present in an area, they scramble COG radio frequencies.Gears of War: Act 1: Ashes: Hammer Torture Barge The Barge was a mobile prison used by the Locust Horde to transport prisoners for Processing.Gears of War 2: Act 2: Denizens: Captivity Bloodmount The Bloodmount was a Hollow creature that feeds on human flesh. It has two tusks, which it uses to attack. Tickers Tickers were small creatures that the Locust Horde used as mobile landmines. The Kantus were able to summon Tickers. "Wild" Tickers, which do not have explosives strapped to them, can also devour weapons and ammunition. Serapede Serapedes were animals native to the planet of Sera, described as being "unlike any other creature on the planet". The Giant Serapedes were notable for their almost steel-like carapaces which rendered them immune to most forms of attack; they could also "shoot lightning" from their pincers.Gears of War 3: Act IV: Batten Down the Hatches Shrieker Shriekers are small flying creatures, roughly about the same size as a ticker. They are equipped with two machine guns and are dangerous when they fly at close range. They can be killed with a standard assault rifle, but when they die, they may fall or fly towards you and explode, in hopes of killing you. Shibboleth Shibboleth is a giant spider-like creature that was the personal mount of General Karn. Karn had nursed it back to health after finding it injured and gave it a mechanical leg. When Karn led the destruction of the surface, he rode Shibboleth into battle. Shibboleth was killed in the Destruction of Halvo Bay by Kilo Squad and Colonel Ezra Loomis.Gears of War: Judgment See also *Savage Locust *Boogeyman *Romily *Lambent *Queen's Guard References Category:Ethnic Groups Category:Government Category:Locust Horde Category:Organizations